


Searching for Dragons

by taztaas (manala)



Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-07-30 11:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20096365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manala/pseuds/taztaas
Summary: Kravitz, the not-very-kingly King of the Enchanted Forest, has a problem. Someone -or something- is burning away the magic in his kingdom and dragon scales were found at the scene. He goes to meet Angus, the King of the Dragons but instead finds Taako, the dragon's head chef (and a prince).





	1. In Which the King of the Enchanted Forest Takes a Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise bitches, I bet yall thought you saw the last of me. But here I am with an AU of one of my favorite book series, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. This fic takes place during book two, Searching for Dragons. If you've read it, and spot some odd terminology or whatnot, that's because my book is in Finnish, so I'm basically translating it back to English here. Most of the humor is thanks to the original author so please don't think I'm actually this funny.
> 
> Most canon pairings will be present!
> 
> [tumblr](https://taztaas.tumblr.com/)  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/taztaas/)

The King of the Enchanted Forest was twenty years old and he lived in an old, maze-like, confusing castle somewhere around the middle of his kingdom. 

Sometimes he wished he could say that the castle lay _ exactly _ in the middle of the kingdom, but it would be inaccurate because the edges, borders and sometimes even the terrain tended to move often and without warning. The ruler of a magical kingdom has to adapt to some small inconveniences, and the king tried not to worry too much about the location of his castle.

The castle itself was a huge building surrounded by a wide moat. It had six different towers, four balconies, and way too many staircases, installed by the behest of an earlier king who liked to trot up and down the stairs with his cape billowing behind him in a very regal fashion. There were many corridors going this way and that, rooms leading into other rooms, rooms inside other rooms, secret passages, hidden panels, and secret doors. There were several cellars, a large ground floor, and two dungeons; one of which could only be accessed from the sixth floor of the northern-southern tower.

“I think it's a bit impractical to climb up six staircases just to get in the dungeon,” the king said to his steward, not for the first time and probably not for the last. The steward, a very formal, uptight elf named Jenkins, raised his eyes from the list he was holding and frowned. “This is not a current concern of ours, Your Majesty,” he said dryly.

The two of them were in the king’s study, going through the tasks for the day. Jenkins was standing in the middle of the room, though there were several chars available. He was dressed in a very stewardly fashion, with a rainbow-colored bowtie that he referred to as ‘his flair’. 

The king was sitting at a huge, oaken desk. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and his long legs stretched out under the table. Truthfully, he looked a bit bored but no one would dare to say that to his handsome face. Two ravens were perched on the back of the king’s chair, above his shoulders, and many more were scattered around the room. Ravens had been following the king around ever since he was born and everyone had tired of questioning it by this point.

The king wasn’t wearing a crown nor a circlet, and though his clothes were immaculate, they were mostly black and lacked the definite over-the-top glamour befit a ruler. He looked like a musical conductor if anything. His hair was black, in a definite need of a trim, with a bunch of black feathers that seemed to have ended up there somehow accidentally.

But despite this all, he somehow managed to look like a king. Maybe it was the look in his grey eyes that did it.

Jenkins cleared his throat. “As the center of Your Majesty’s kingdom, this castle-”

“The castle isn't at the center,” the king said irritably. “Only near it. And please call me Kravitz and leave all that ‘Your Majesty’ nonsense to formal celebrations.”

“We have no formal celebrations,” Jenkins complained, clutching the list in his hands like his life depended on it. “Your Majesty has canceled them all- the tree dance of the dryads, the bardic ballad-”

“Yes, I know,” Kravitz interrupted, “and I'm sure you have them all written down on a list somewhere so you don’t need to go through all of them with me now,” he said, waving a hand as if to dismiss the idea. The ravens sitting on the chair ruffled their feathers, expressing their annoyance. Or so it seemed, they were birds, who could tell.

“We don’t need that many dinners and receptions and whatnot,” Kravitz said leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk with his head in his hands. Jenkins looked like he very much wanted to stomp his foot but he refrained from doing so.

“Now we don’t have a single one!” Jenkins cried. “Only because Your Majesty insists that formal occasions are boring!”

“Because they _ are _boring, Jenkins.” The king said, lifting a hand to push away the strands of hair that had fallen in his face as he slumped over the desk. “Boring and tiresome. Like how you keep calling me ‘Your Majesty’ every third word when there are only the two of us present. It sounds stupid.”

“Your father-”

“Father was pompous, and you know it. If he hadn’t drowned in the Lake of Crying Dreamers three years ago you would be complaining about him as much as you are complaining about me now.”

Jenkins frowned. “Your father was a very good King of the Enchanted Forest.”

“I never said he wasn’t, but you can’t deny that he was pompous as well,” Kravitz said, wrapping a piece of his hair around his finger.

“Could we please get back to the matter at hand, Your Majesty?” The elf said stiffly.

The king rolled his eyes and stopped playing with his hair. “Could I stop you?”

“Your Majesty only needs to ask me to leave,” Jenkins said, dry as the desert, and adjusted his bowtie.

“If I do that, you'll sulk for days. On with it. What was it about the northern-southern tower?”

Jenkins started going through the items on his list with incredible thoroughness, and Kravitz immediately zoned out, letting Jenkins’ droning lull him into a pleasant haze, where he remained until he heard something very disturbing amongst the prattle. He stirred and sat up ramrod straight in his chair in a flash, scaring the napping ravens off the chair.

“The what now?”

“The- your _ wedding _sire,” Jenkins said, unimpressed, with a clear emphasis on the word wedding.

Kravitz was too flabbergasted to realize that Jenkins had finally dropped the ‘Your Majesty’.

“What wedding?”

“Your Majesty’s wedding to a noble of good heritage,” Jenkins said patiently, in the same tone of voice he’d used as he went through the list. It was kind of impressive. ”I have made a list of appropriate options,” Jenkins said, pulling out a scroll from under his vest.

“You’ve made a list?” Kravitz grimaced. “Jenkins, please tell me you haven’t spoken to that terrible woman who has way too many sons and daughters?”

“Any one of Lady Sterling’s descendants would be an appropriate partner for Your Majesty,” Jenkins said, lifting his chin with a sniff of his pointy nose.

“Appropriate?” Kravitz repeated, standing up from the chair, his eyes wide as saucers. Even the ravens seemed disturbed. “Jenkins, the twelve of them don't possess enough common sense to fill a teaspoon! They’re dimwits!” Kravitz slapped his palms on the table and glared at Jenkins. “And so are you if you think that I would _ ever _ marry one of them.”

Jenkins sighed. “I was hoping Your Majesty would at least consider…”

“Then, obviously, you don’t know me at all,” Kravitz said sternly. “You may leave, Jenkins, and take that cursed list of princes and princesses and whatever with you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Jenkins said, obviously offended. His whole being radiated disapproval as he bowed deeply and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Kravitz fell back into his chair and hid his face in his hands with a miserable sigh. After all the problems the kingdom had been having (and that Kravitz had been solving, thank you very much), talk of a wedding was the last thing he wanted.

“I need a day off,” he mumbled into his palms and immediately realized that he really _ did _ need a day off, that he _ hadn't had _ one in a while and he sure as hell was going to have one. Right now in fact. The ravens didn’t seem as excited, most of them already in deep sleep now that Jenkins was gone.

Sneaking out without getting caught by the maids or other castle inhabitants was surprisingly easy, even without the use of any kind of invisibility spell. Once Kravitz had crossed the moat and arrived at the treeline of the Enchanted Forest, he allowed himself to relax a little, but not too much. The forest had its own weird set of rules that even he, as the king, had to adhere to. He still remembered how hard it had been getting rid of the black-feathered wings he had gotten when he was eight after he accidentally ate the wrong kind of strawberry.

But of course, as a king, he also had some privileges. He could tap into the forest’s magical reserves directly, which made him stronger than three wizards combined and equal to most mages. Magic was inherent to all kings of the Enchanted Forest. It had to be, it would be difficult to rule a kingdom as magical as this without having any magic of one’s own. The forest always chose its king with the help of a certain sword and bestowed upon him the ability to feel the magic that reached every corner of the forest and the skills to use it.

Kravitz decided to stop by the Pool of Green Glass. He hadn’t been there in a while and it was one of his favorite places. He considered using magic to get there in a blink of an eye but decided against it.

“I wanted to walk after all,” he said to himself. “And the pool isn't that far.” He started walking briskly towards the direction of the pool.

After an hour he still hadn’t arrived at his destination and he was growing irritated. The forest had moved twice and both times the location of the pond had changed so that it was not only farther away than before but also in a completely different direction. It was almost as if the forest didn't want him to find it. If Kravitz wasn't the king he wouldn't even have known that he was headed in the wrong direction.

Kravitz frowned. “Strange. I wonder what’s going on.” Kravitz touched the scabbard at his hip and made sure that he could pull his sword out quickly if need be. Then he raised his hand and touched the strand of magic that was invisible and floating next to his shoulder. A gray mist appeared and then very quickly disappeared. Kravitz blinked, shook his head and looked around.

He was where he wanted to be, on the rocky brink of the Pool of Green Glass.

“Oh!” Someone cried out. ”Who might you be?”

Kravitz jumped at the noise and almost fell into the water. He quickly regained his balance, turned around and right away any trace of his good mood was gone. A girl was sitting under one of the huge oaks and she was obviously a princess with her wide, sparkling blue eyes and long flaxen hair that tumbled over her shoulders.

“Who are you?” The princess asked again. She scrutinized Kravitz very intensely and didn’t seem to be afraid at all. “And how did you get here, to this _ awful _, lonely and abandoned place?”

Kravitz tried not to look offended by the insult to his kingdom. “My name’s Kravitz and I was just going for a walk,” he answered curtly, then realized that he was being rude. He grit his teeth and took a deep breath through his nose. “Can I help you?” He asked and hoped he didn’t sound as reluctant as he felt. The princess hesitated.

“_ Prince _Kravitz?” she asked hopefully.

“No,” Kravitz answered.

“What about Lord Kravitz? Or perhaps sir Kravitz?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Kravitz said, realizing what was going on and fervently hoping the process wouldn’t ask if he was a king. Luckily he wasn’t wearing a crown. Ambitious princesses (and princes, to be fair) were even worse than the regular ones and he didn’t want to have anything to do with either.

The princess frowned, obviously thinking if it was appropriate to ask Kravitz for help even if he wasn’t a prince, or a lord, or an honorable woodcutter. Kravitz quickly interrupted her before she could ask any more questions.

“How did you get here, by the way?” Kravitz asked, trying to be polite. He hated saying no to princesses because they always cried and moped and wouldn't give up. They always asked for stupid things, such as ‘bring me a white rose from the Garden of the Moon’ or ‘kill a dragon in a duel for me’.

“Oh, ‘tis a story of great trial and tribulation!” The princess wailed, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically. “My evil stepmother threw me out of my father's castle while he was in the war. After that, I wandered for many days _ all _ by my lonesome until I no longer knew where I was.” She fluttered her eyelashes purposefully.

It sounded rehearsed. Every shred of empathy that Kravitz had been feeling towards the girl disappeared. He was pretty sure that the princess had conspired with her stepmother and they had both concluded that the fastest way for the princess to get married was for her to go off adventuring and get rescued by some unfortunate fool of ‘noble status and appropriate heritage’.

“Finally I found myself in a vast desert,” the princess continues, looking down demurely and pressing one hand to her expensive fabric-covered chest. “After I used all my wits and power to cross it, I sat here beneath this tree to rest and-”

“Wait,” Kravitz said, frowning. The princess looked affronted, her tale of woe rudely interrupted. “You crossed a desert? That can't be. There are no deserts around the Enchanted Forest.”

“You insult me!” The princess huffed indignantly, her hands flying to her hips.“Why would I lie to someone like you? But go ahead and look, if you don't believe me.” She said, gesturing towards the forest behind her.

“Thank you, and I will,” Kravitz said and quickly walked past the princess, ignoring the dumbfounded look on her face. He disappeared into the trees before the girl had time to call him back and demand he explain himself.


	2. In Which Kravitz Discovers a Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my history with multichapter stories is abysmal but I swear I'll finish this one. Enjoy.

Kravitz was still congratulating himself on his successful escape when the forest suddenly ended. He stopped to stare and immediately forgot all about the princess. There was a piece the size of the castle’s courtyard missing from the Enchanted Forest. Well, not  _ missing,  _ there were a few charred tree stumps sticking out from the dead, dry earth. Something had destroyed a circular area of trees and moss so fully that there were only stumps and ash left behind.

The taste of ash in the wind snapped Kravitz out from his daze. He hesitated for a moment and stepped forward to the area of destruction. When he moved from the forest to the desert, something abruptly disappeared and he stumbled in shock. He felt only emptiness where the invisible strands of power were supposed to hum with magical energy that was the core of the Enchanted Forest. The magic was gone.

“No wonder that princess had no difficulty entering the forest,” Kravitz said out loud, voice hollow, brow creasing in worry. Without magic this part of the forest could not move out of the princess’ way, so all she had to do to get into the forest was walk across it.

Something glittered in the ground next to one of the tree stumps and Kravitz walked over to investigate. He picked the item up; it was a thin, hard disc, a bit larger than his hand, and bright iridescent green.

“A dragon scale? The hell is a dragon scale doing here?”

There was no one around to answer his question. He frowned (he was going to get wrinkles at this rate and he wasn’t even twenty-five) at the scale and pocketed it. 

Kravitz went through the area, hoping to find out something that would tell him something about what had happened. Half an hour later he had found four more dragon scales. They were all different shades of green and Kravitz was feeling very concerned. He’d thought that he was in the good graces of the dragons living in the Mountains of Morning on the eastern side of the Enchanted Forest. He let them be and they let him be.

“This sure doesn’t look like ‘letting be’”, he grumbled. “What are those damned dragons thinking?” He was starting to wish he hadn't left the dragons alone so much in the past three years. All he knew about dragons was that they were big and breathed fire.

Absently, Kravitz put the scales into his pocket and walked back to the edge of the burned circle. It was a relief to feel the forest’s magic again, but he couldn’t leave the area like this. Anyone could enter the Enchanted Forest by just walking across the burned clearing. He started walking along the edge of the area, pulling at the strands of magic rippling in the air. All of them refused to move any closer to the dead area but on the opposite side, he found a spot where the regular terrain surrounding the forest met the burned area.

“Maybe, if I could just move this juuuuust a little…” Kravitz mumbled and carefully reached around him and collected the magic in his hands. It felt much like holding a handful of thin threads except the threads were invisible, floating in the air, and they made his palms tingle when he touched them.

Kravitz slowly pulled on the magic, dragging it away from the Enchanted Forest. He grimaced, starting to sweat as he fought against the pull of magic. The magic felt hot and spread too thin in his hands, but eventually, the magic snapped into place. The burned area was now surrounded by magic and a narrow, healthy part of the forest which cut off access to the burned circle from the outside.

“Holy shit it worked!” Kravitz called out, pleasantly surprised. The area hadn’t been healed but at least now no one could accidentally wander into the forest. It had to do for now. Kravitz let go of the strands of magic one by one and felt them fuse back into the regular network of magic covering the forest. When he had let go of the last one, he sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.

“Are you done?” Someone above his head in the trees asked. Kravitz looked up and saw a squirrel looking at him disapprovingly. “I think so,” Kravitz said, “For now, at least.”

“For now?” The squirrel said, annoyed. ”What kinda answer is that? Not very useful, that’s for sure, that’s what I think, not very useful at all! It’s hard enough to move in this forest without folks making it jump around all willy-nilly, not to mention  _ burning _ parts of it and what more, I don’t even know!”

Kravitz perked up. “Did you see what happened? Or who did it?”

“Well, of course not,” the squirrel answered. “If I had, I would’ve given them a piece of my mind that’s for sure! This is terrible, absolutely hopeless. How am I supposed to give directions to lost princes when everything keeps moving around? It’s impossible, that’s what. And they always blame me! And never a word of thank you, never! You’d think they have been raised in some kind of palace, the way they act.”

“If they are princes, they most likely have been raised in a palace,” Kravitz said carefully. He didn’t want to aggravate the chatty animal any further. “Most princes are.”

“Well, no wonder none of them have any kind of manners,” the squirrel huffed. “None of my children act like that, that’s for sure. ‘you're welcome’, and ‘thank you’ and ‘yes sir’ and ‘no ma’am’ that's how I raised them, all twenty-three, and what’s befitting a squirrel is befit a prince, that’s what I think.”

“You are surely correct,” Kravitz said with a placating smile, “But about this burned spot-”

“Pure vandalism, that’s what it is,” the squirrel interrupted. “But hooligans like that, they never stop to think-”

“Hooligans?” Kravitz asked, feeling a bit hopeful. Maybe he wasn’t in trouble with the dragons, maybe the one who burned his forest had been just a particularly mischievous individual. That would be bad too, but at least he wouldn’t have to think of a way to make his whole kingdom dragon-proof.

“But how could I find out if that’s the case or not...” he wondered aloud.

“Whatever it is, just ask Lup,” the squirrel said, waving its tail.

“Pardon?”

“I  _ said, _ ask  _ Lup.  _ Really, you big folks never listen do you?”

“I’m very sorry,” Kravitz said, humbled. “Who is Lup?”

“That’s better,” the squirrel said, placated. “Lup is a witch. She lives near the mountains, just walk that way, “ the squirrel pointed, “until you get to the stream, then follow it to the great oak with purple leaves. Turn left and walk ten minutes and you will be on her backyard. If all this burning and moving things around hasn’t messed everything up, that is,” the animal finished, grumbling disapprovingly.

“You think that this witch has something to do with what happened?” Kravitz said, gesturing at the ashen clearing. 

“I never said that!” the squirrel gasped. ”Lup is a very honorable person, even though she has cats.”

“In that case, I don’t understand why you think I should talk to her.”

“You asked for advice, and I gave you some,” the squirrel said. “That’s my job. I give out advice, not explanations. If you want an explanation, go talk to a griffin.”

“Alright, well, if I meet a griffin I’ll be sure to speak with it. Thank you for the advice.”

“You are most welcome,” the squirrel said, waved its tail a couple of times and jumped to a higher branch. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye!” Kravitz called after it but the squirrel was already gone. Slowly Kravitz started walking into the direction the squirrel had pointed at. When someone gave you directions in the Enchanted Forest, it was best to abide by them, even if you were the king.

“Especially if you are the king,” Kravitz reminded himself. He wished he knew more about this witch, but he wasn’t really surprised that he hadn't heard of Lup before, there were many witches living in the Enchanted Forest.

‘Honorable’ didn’t really tell much when said by a squirrel. Lup might be a white witch or the kind of witch that lived in a gingerbread house and ate children. Lup had to be somehow special though, otherwise, the squirrel wouldn’t have sent him her way.

“She might even be a fire witch,” Kravitz mused. “I guess there might be a few that could be called honorable.” And if Lup had lived in the Enchanted Forest for a while, she was probably a decent kind of witch. Evil witches often caused problems sooner than later and then someone complained about them to the king.

“And no one has complained about Lup,” Kravitz concluded, satisfied. He reached the stream. Maybe it had been a mistake to cancel all those formal celebrations Jenkins was so fond of. The events would’ve been a good chance to meet some of the normal inhabitants of the forest. Or more like, inhabitants that didn’t cause trouble. Anyone who lived in the Enchanted Forest couldn't be called normal, not if they managed to stay alive and more or less in their original form of being.

A moment later he reached the oak the squirrel has talked about and turned left. A bit farther he found a hill that was covered by bright blue catnip. He took a moment to ponder if it was safe to cross the patch of strangely colored plants but then decided that it was more dangerous to ignore the directions he had been given.

On top of the hill, the catnip patch ended. At the bottom, there was a small, red house with an orange roof, an odd color combination in Kravitz’s opinion but he wore mostly black so he might be biased. Smoke was rising from the chimney and delicate lace curtains (a weird contrast) were slowly moving in the wind in the open windows on both sides of the back door. On the stone step in front of the door slept a cat.

Kravitz walked down the hill and reached a gate in the white picket fence surrounding the red house. There was a small sign hanging from the gate. It said: 

CLOSE THE DAMN GATE   
Enter at your own risk ;)

Kravitz grinned and pushed the gate open. A loud yowl from above made him jump. He looked up and saw a fat, orange, striped cat who sat on the branch of an apple tree, staring at him with its green eyes. A moment later a long gray streak shot out from behind a nearby tree. It slowed as it got closer to the house and Kravitz saw that it was a skinny gray cat, whose tail had seen better days. The grey cat jumped on the step and from there to the windowsill. The white cat sleeping on the step raised its head and let out a complaining meow as the grey cat vanished inside the house.

“So much for a surprise visit,” Kravitz said to the cat sitting in the tree. The cat looked at him smugly and started licking its paw. Kravitz stepped through the gate and into the garden. He closed the gate behind him and started walking towards the house.


	3. In Which Kravitz Receives Some Advice from a Witch

Before Kravitz was halfway across the garden, the door to the house opened. Six cats of different sizes and colors marched out with their tails stranding straight up. They flowed over the outside step and collected the sleepy with cat into their midst and then arranged themselves into a neat row. Kravitz found himself being stared at 6 pairs of feline eyes. He blinked. The cats blinked back, all at the same time. Like they’d been trained.

“Well?”

Kravitz raised his eyes. In the open doorway stood a woman wearing a well-fitted, bright red robe and a knee-high pair of brown heeled boots. Her hair was bright blonde, almost white, and gathered into a loose bun on the top of her head. Her eyes were bottle green and freckles were scattered all over her bronze skin with a notable concentration over the bridge of her slightly pointy nose. One of her hands was on her hip in a display of impatience and the other one was holding a broom.

“You must be Lup,” Kravitz said, somehow managing to sound much more certain than he felt. The woman was very beautiful and apart from the broom, she didn’t look like a witch at all.

“Good deducin’, genius,” the woman, Lup, said and for a horrifying moment, Kravitz thought he’d somehow messed up but then Lup broke into a wide grin that crinkled her eyes and showed off the gap between her front teeth.

“You’re Kravitz huh? The ‘big man’ around these parts?” She said, using air quotes and sending Kravitz reeling because he’d never met a person who actually used those.

“Ah, yes,” he said, when he finally remembered how to use words. “I’m the bi- the  _ king,  _ yes, the King of the Enchanted Forest, pleasure to meet you.” Kravitz was a bit disappointed that he’d been recognized but at least Lup didn’t seem like the kind of person that made a big deal out of meeting royalty. Kravitz had only known her for a minute or so but he couldn’t imagine her ever curtsying or using honorifics.

“I was uh- I was advised to come and talk with you about a problem I’ve been having. I ho- I hope you weren’t just leaving?” he finished hesitantly, eyeing the broom she was still holding. Lup seemed surprised.

“Huh? Oh, you mean this thing?” she said, lifting the broom. “Nah, I just grabbed it in case Garfield was going to try and sneak inside again. Can’t open the damn door without that fat bastard storming into the kitchen. Speaking of,” she cut herself off and glared at something behind Kravitz, brandishing the broom. “Get in.”

“Huh?”

“I said  _ get in Grim!”  _ Lup roared and grabbed Kravitz by the sleeve, pulling him violently inside the house. Kravitz stumbled and tried to catch his footing as Lup kept yelling somewhere behind him.

“Not today satan!  _ YEET! _ ”

Her words were followed by the sound of a broom hitting something, a familiar yowl and the slamming of the door. Kravitz turned around and saw Lup setting the broom down next to the closed door.

“Aren’t- aren’t the windows open?” Kravitz said because he couldn't think of anything better to say.

“Yeah, but he can’t jump high enough to reach the windowsill. Anyway,” Lup said, flipping loose strands of hair over her shoulder and walking past Kravitz into the house. “You comin’ in or what?”

Kravitz followed her sheepishly into what turned out to be a well-equipped kitchen with the same intense color scheme as the outside of the house.

“Pop a squat,” Lup said waving her hand at the sturdy looking chairs surrounding an equally sturdy looking table. “You want some cider?”

“I’d love some,” Kravitz said, still tasting the ash from earlier. He sat down. “How’d you know I was the king?” he asked, while he watched Lup move around the kitchen, opening cabinets and pulling out bottles and mugs.

“The ravens were a dead giveaway,” she said absently while she continued looking for something, presumably the cider. Kravitz was aghast, he hadn’t even noticed the birds following him. Maybe he’d gotten too used to them. “And also, tall, dark and handsome isn’t really as common a look as you might think. Also also, you have feathers in your hair.”

Kravitz just stared. He wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting but whatever it was, Lup was nothing like it. And neither was her house. Or her cats.

“Well,” Lup said, setting down a pitcher and two red mugs on the table. “Tell me about this problem you have.”

Kravitz cleared his throat. “About an hour ago I found a destroyed area in the Enchanted Forest. The trees were burned down and not even moss was left behind. I found dragon scales in the ash and a squirrel suggested that I’d come and see you.”

“Dragon scales?” Lup pursed her lips, looking very somber. “Show me.”

Kravitz pulled the scales out of his pocket and set them on the table. Lup hummed thoughtfully as she bent over the table to get a closer look. “Cha’girl doesn’t like this one bit.” Neither did Kravitz.

“Can you tell anything about the dragon based on the scales?” Kravitz asked. Lup’s brow creased even further. “These don’t seem to be from the same dragon,” she said. Kravitz groaned. One dragon causing trouble would have been one thing, but several dragons attacking the Enchanted Forest, that was a declaration of war.

“Are you sure there were several dragons?”

“I didn’t say that!” Lup snapped. “I said that these  _ seem  _ like they belong to different dragons. One is yellow-green, one is grayish and one has a purple hue. Anyway, have some patience, Grim.”

“Grim?” Kravitz repeated quietly to himself, unsure about how to react to this nickname that had been bestowed upon him. He’d never had a nickname before. ‘Your Majesty’ definitely didn’t count.

Lup stared at the scales, turning them in her hands a moment more before her expression brightened. “Hah! I knew it!” she yelled and before Kravitz had time to open his mouth to ask what she’d figured out, she had dropped the scales back on the table, set her hands above them and a sudden burst of fire came forth from her fingertips. Kravitz jumped on his chair but was glad he hadn't grabbed a mug of cider yet. His suit would’ve definitely been ruined.

“As I suspected,” Lup said smugly, grabbed two of the scales and held them up for Kravitz to see. They were identical. “These are all from the same dragon!”

“Impressive,” Kravitz said, still feeling a bit winded by the sudden display of pyrothectrics. Apparently Lup  _ was  _ a fire witch. “So someone made them look like they were different?”

  
“Yup! These are all the same shape and pretty much the same size. Dragons can have the same size scales if they are close to each other in age, but the shape differs between dragons as much as the color does.”   


“I didn’t know that,” Kravitz said, interested and even more impressed.

“Not many do,” Lup said, grinning and waving one of the scales like it was a sign of her victory. “But anyway, I don’t think it was a dragon that destroyed your forest.”   


“What? Why? Because the scales had been fiddled with?”

“I can’t believe you just said ‘fiddled’ with a straight face. But my point is, if a dragon wanted to avoid being blamed for the destruction, he wouldn’t have left  _ any _ scales at the scene, changed or not. Dragons aren’t stupid. Besides, a healthy dragon doesn’t shed this much scales in such a short time.”

“How come you know so much about dragons?” Kravitz asked, anger flaring. He didn’t come here to be lectured, he came here to get help!

Lup crossed her arms with a proud grin. “Angus and me go way back. We do favours for each other every now and then.”

“Angus,” Kravitz said thoughtfully., “That name does seem familiar.”

“Angus is the king of the dragons,” Lup said with an amused, almost victorious smile. “Take a sip of the cider, babe.”

Automatically Kravitz raised his mug. Then he realized what Lup had just said and almost choked on his drink. Lup was friends with the King of the Dragons? No wonder she knew so much about dragon scales!

Lup raised her own mug to her lips and wiggled her eyebrows at him from behind it, like she knew exactly what Kravitz was thinking. A bit annoying, but the cider was surprisingly tasty.

“This is very good,” Kravitz said, taking another sip. Lup looked smug. “Thanks, I make it myself. My baby brother’s recipe. Which reminds me, you should take a bottle with you when you go see Angus.”

“Thank you- wait, what makes you think I’m going to go see the King of the Dragons?” Kravitz said. Lup rolled her eyes. “How else are you gonna find out who these scales belong to? And anyway, you should've went to see him last year when the old king died and Angus was coronated.”

“I sent a letter and a gift,” Kravitz mumbled into his mug, sounding petulant even to his own ears. He felt like he was being told off by his mother. “I was going to visit but then the ice giants decided to return south, and some dumb mage-”

“Yes, yes, this and that has happened,” Lup said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “Really Kravitz, haven’t you learned that there's always something happening? Being busy is no excuse. Everyone is busy! Besides, it’s obvious that you're running yourself ragged trying to do everything yourself.”

“Is it?” Kravitz asked guiltily.

“Yeah, and it’s dumb. You just need-”   


“-a spouse,” Kravitz mumbled, defeated, recognizing the familial start of a Jenkins™ lecture.

“-someone smart to talk about things with,” Lup ended her sentence. “Preferably someone who knows at least something about leading a kingdom. Someone who does more than just makes lists of things that you should attend to.”

Kravitz thought about Jenkins’ endless lists and couldn’t stop the smile sneaking onto his lips. “You’re probably right.”   


“Of course I’m right,” Lup huffed. “Now chug your cider and go see Angus before you talk yourself out if it.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Kravitz said, sipping his cider. “It’s a good idea.” He picked up the dragon scales and put them in his pocket. He really hoped Angus could tell him something useful. The Enchanted Forest was big but it could disappear very quickly if someone started poking holes to it. Which reminded Kravitz of another thing.

“Do dragons eat magic?” he asked. Lup tilted her head and tapped her finger on her lip in thought.

“No, I don’t think so. I can check, though. Why do you ask?”

“There was no magic left in the burned area, like it had been sucked dry,” Kravitz said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Lup walked over to a small bookshelf in the corner and returned to the table with a blue book, leafing through it as she walked. “Hmm, nah, dragons don’t eat magic, they make their own just like unicorns do.

“Really?”

“See for yourself,” Lup said, turning the book so Kravitz could see the page she was reading. “McDonald is very reliable, the more vague the subject, the more reliable he is. If he says dragons make their own magic, then they do.”

Kravitz sighed and felt his shoulders dropping in defeat. “The more I find out the less this all makes sense.”

“Then you just haven't found out enough,” Lup said brightly, giving him a friendly pat to the shoulder.

They talked for a few more minutes while Kravitz drank his cider. Lup told him how he’d find Angus’ cave on the Mountains of Morning, but refused to tell him what he should do when he got there, smiling mischievously all the while.

Finally, Lup sent him on his way with two bottles of cider, the blue book about dragons, and a very firm recommendation not to waste any more time than he absolutely had to.

Kravitz headed straight back to the castle. Visiting the King of Dragons would demand a bit more preparation that talking with a sensible witch, and Lup had been right about wasting time.


	4. In Which a Wizard Pays a Visit

When Kravitz arrived back at the castle, the first thing he saw was Jenkins who stood in the doorway looking relieved. But by the time Kravitz was in hearing distance, the elf’s expression had turned grim.

“I’m happy to see Your Majesty has returned safely,” Jenkins said stiffly. “I was about to send out a search party.”

“Jenkins, that’s ridic-” Kravitz paused as his brain caught up. Jenkins might complain that the King was skimping on his duties but he wouldn’t send a search party just because he was annoyed. “What’s going on?”

“Your Majesty has an unexpected guest.” Jenkins paused. “At least I presume that he’s unexpected.”

“Don’t frown at me like that,” Kravitz said. “I’m wasn’t expecting anyone. I would have told you if I was.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jenkins said, calming down a little. “And because your Majesty is not forgetful, I felt sure that you wouldn’t have, well, left the palace so suddenly if you had a meeting to attend.”

“Who is it?” Kravitz asked. “Hopefully not another complaint from the Darkmorning elves? If it is, you can tell them that I’m not going to meet them. I’ve had enough of their moaning and groaning and I have more important matters to attend to right now.”

“No,” Jenkins said, “The guest is Lucas Miller, the Head Wizard of The Wizard’s Association.”

“Oh no,” Kravitz sighed. He’d met the Head Wizard only once before and he didn’t really like the man. Nevertheless, The Wizard's Association was a powerful group and it wouldn’t be wise to insult them. “How long has he been waiting for? What does he want?”

“He has only been here for a few minutes,” Jenkins assured. He frowned. “He refused to tell me the reason for his visit, You Majesty. He said he would only speak with Your Majesty.”

“Yeah, sure,” Kravitz muttered. “If I remember correctly, he has a very exaggerated notion of his own importance.”

“Your Majesty!” Jenkins’ exclamation told clearly how much he was taken aback by such talk. “The Head Wizard of the Wizard's Association is a very important person.”

“That’s what _ he _thinks,” Kravitz said. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to say anything untoward while I'm with him. Where is he?”

“I requested he wait in the largest reception hall.”

“Great. I’m going to go and see what he wants. Take these to the kitchens.” Kravitz gave the two bottles of cider to Jenkins. The elf jumped in surprise. Before Jenkins recovered, Kravitz grabbed a handful of magic and twisted it.

The castle courtyard disappeared into white smoke and left Kravitz standing in the middle of his office. He set the book Lup had given him on his desk and started going through his drawers. The golden circlet that he wore to formal events was found on the lowest drawer under old envelopes and past ball, dinner, birthday, cricket and tea party invitations. When Kravitz pressed the circlet to his head he frowned at the drawer, wondering why he saved all kinds of useless papers. For the hundredth time in a week, he decided to clean out everything someday soon and then forced the drawer shut.

He looked around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and then headed towards the largest reception hall. Lucas spun around when Kravitz pulled the door open. His blue robe swirled around him pretentiously. Lucas lowered his head in greeting but scrutinized Kravitz long and appraisingly.

“Your Majesty.”

“Welcome, Head Wizard,” Kravitz said, bowing a little in answer. Something pulled at his mind. The threads of magic that were always especially abundant inside the castle were drifting slowly towards the staff Lucas was carrying. In a moment they'd start to twist around the staff like a thread around a spool. The wizard's staff would suck them in and leave a tangled knot into the otherwise neat network of magic and it would take Kravitz hours to clean up.

This happened every time a wizard entered the Enchanted Forest and it was very unpleasant. Kravitz was tired of asking wizards to control their staves; they rarely even understood what he was talking about, and if he managed to explain, the usually just became upset and indignant. Kravitz didn’t want to upset the Head Wizard but he also didn't want to spend a whole afternoon cleaning up a magical mess in the middle of his castle. He reached out in his mind and pulled the invisible threads away from the staff.

Lucas didn’t seem to notice anything. “I have come to meet you regarding a very urgent matter concerning the Wizard's Association. I hope you are ready to help us.”

“That depends on what kind of help you are asking for,” Kravitz said. "There are things I won't do and some things I can’t do. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course,” Lucas said. He sounded a bit annoyed like he had hoped that Kravitz would have consented quickly and without any troublesome questions. Kravitz refrained from rolling his eyes in annoyance. Every resident of the Enchanted Forest knew not to promise things without knowing what they were promising. Did this wizard think Kravitz was stupid just because he was young?

“The Wizard's Association has had some trouble lately with the dragons of the Mountains of Morning,” Lucas continued. “That is the core of our problem.”

“I don’t think I can help you regarding the dragons,” Kravitz said and pulled the magic threads away from the wizard's staff again. “The Mountains of Morning are not a part of the Enchanted Forest, so I have no jurisdiction over the dragons. If you were having trouble with elves, I could maybe-”

“Naturally, we don't want to pull you into our dispute,” Lucas interrupted smoothly. “However, one of the consequences of our dispute is that the King of the Dragons has forbidden the Association forms entering the Caves of Fire and Night.”

“I still don’t see how-”

“Many spell ingredients we use are found in the caves,” Lucas interrupted again. “They are also the only place where we can produce certain objects that we need in our research. We - The Wizard’s Association - need some way to enter the caves.”

“Go on.” Kravitz tried not to sound as annoyed as he felt. He didn’t like Lucas’ lecturing tone of voice, he was bothered by the constant interruptions and he still didn’t understand what the Associations trouble with dragons had to do with him. On top of it all, the threads of magic were starting to move towards the wizard's staff again, as if they were being sucked inside. Kravitz tugged at the threads, hoping he could do the same to the Head Wizard.

“This is where you come in, Your Majesty,” Lucas said. “You could be very useful… I mean you could help us immensely.”

“How?” The magic was drifting towards the staff faster than before. Kravitz realized that if he kept on pulling on them, he soon wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. While Lucas kept talking, Kravitz pulled at a thick thread of magic and quickly tied it into a loop around the wizard. Now the threads bounced off the loop before getting close to Lucas. Kravitz smiled a little.

The Head Wizard stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. “What was that?” he snapped.

“Forgive me,” Kravitz said, distinguished. “Because I am the King of the Enchanted Forest, I sometimes have to deal with urgent matters that need my attention. I just took care of one such thing.”

Lucas frowned, he was obviously caught off guard. “You did something? But I didn’t feel a spell-” Lucas suddenly stopped talking, to stare at Kravitz, aghast.

“That’s not surprising,” Kravitz said, as if in passing. On the inside, he was grinning. Apparently, wizards could feel regular spells but not the way Kravitz used magic. He wondered why no one had ever mentioned it. Undetectable spells could be a great advantage if he ever was going to have trouble with the Wizard's Association. “It wasn’t exactly a spell, just a matter concerning the powers of the forest. Don’t let it bother you.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Lucas said after a long moment of silence. “Can I go on?”

“Please do.”

“We are requesting that you allow the Wizard's Association to enter the Caves of Fire and Night trough the Enchanted Forest,” Lucas said. “We believe there is an entrance to the caves near the eastern border of your kingdom.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t stay put,” Kravitz pointed out. “Nothing stays put in the Enchanted Forest, at least not for very long.”

“But it’s always roughly in the same spot,” Lucas said trustingly. “We are ready to use the time needed to locate it.”

Kravitz thought about the terrible amount of knots and tangles that the wizards would cause while wandering around the forest looking for the entrance. He just about managed to suppress a shiver. “What about the dragons?”

“If you have no power over them, they surely can’t have a say over your entrance to the caves,” Lucas said, staring at Kravitz with his hard, bright eyes.

“That’s not what I mean.” Kravitz paused as if considering the proposal. “I think I have to decline your request, at least at this point in time,” he said. “I have some issues of my own that I need to settle with the King of the Dragons right now. Judging from what you said, the dragons might have something against the fact that I let your wizards enter the Caves of Fire and Night, and I don’t want to make the discussions with them any more difficult. I hope you understand.”

“Ah.” A brief expression of satisfaction passed over Lucas’ face. “I’m sorry that you too have trouble with the dragons. Hopefully, you manage to settle things. They have always been insidious creatures, and you can never know what they are really thinking.”

_ The same could be said about the Head Wizard of the Wizard’s Association, _Kravitz thought. “Thank you for your kind words,” he said out loud.

“If you need help, the Wizard's Association is ready to assist you,” Lucas said, smiling. “We have much experience dealing with the dragons.”

“I appreciate your offer,” Kravitz said carefully. He didn’t want to insult the Head Wizard but he doubted the wizards would be of much use. They seemed to have more difficulties with the dragons than he did.

“Have you met the new King of the Dragons or the dragons prince?” The head wizard continued.

“No, I - prince?” Kravitz forgot all his foreboding thoughts under a wave of bewilderment. “The King of Dragons has a prince?”

“Yes, he definitely has,” Lucas continued, frowning. “He’s a real piece of work, the prince that is. Our trouble with the dragons is entirely his fault.”

“Oh no,” Kravitz sighed. He raised a hand to run in through his hair but remembered just in time that he was wearing a circlet. “And King Angus trusts him?”

“Definitely. Most dragons trust him nowadays. Taako is the real power behind the throne of the Mountains of Morning.” Besides scorn, there was a lot of suppressed anger in Lucas’ voice. Kravitz couldn’t blame him. He himself had had enough trouble with princes and princesses, and he could recognize the type. Taako must be one of these handsome but empty-headed and ambitious idiots, whose only talents were staring innocently with their blue eyes and the skill to wrap people - or in Taako’s case, dragons - around their little fingers. This Taako was probably too stupid to know how much trouble his manipulations were causing, but if he did, he probably enjoyed the power for chaos he possessed.

“Oh no,” Kravitz said again. Why hadn’t Lup warned him? Though he had to speak with Angus anyhow. Maybe Lup had heard of his princephobia and didn’t want to give him a reason to postpone the visit. Kravitz looked at Lucas, ready for co-operation for the first time ever. “Thank you for telling me.”

“It was nothing,” Lucas said. “Will you send me a word on how the situation is developing? And remember that the Wizard's Association is ready to help in any way you need. The faster you get this little thing solved, the sooner you can consider our request concerning the Caves of Fire and Night.”

“Yes, of course,” Kravitz said. “Was that all? I’ll ask Jenkins to show you out.”

“That won't be necessary,” Lucas smiled at Kravitz in a way that made Kravitz grind his teeth. “I _ am _ a wizard after all. Good day, Your Highness.”

Lucas bowed and was suddenly and entirely gone. Well, not entirely. Kravitz could feel a lump of magic in the middle of the loop he had made in the spot where Lucas had been standing. Kravitz frowned. He appreciated that Lucas has warned him about Angus’ prince, but that wasn't and excuse to leave extra magic in his castle. Kravitz reached for the loop to release it but then paused. Now that he was home, he might as well do it the easy way. He pulled on another thread and the reception hall disappeared around him.

He materialized in the cool darkness of the castle’s armory. He lit the torches on the walls with another tug at the magical threads. Jenkins had done a lot of work since Kravitz had last visited the armory. Most of the swords and shields that had been pushed to the corners of the room, were now neatly paired and hung on the walls. Kravitz made a mental note to complement Jenkins on his work and then walked over to the wooden chests on the back wall.

He stopped in front of the middle one and looked for the key in his pocket only to realize that he had left in on his desk. He sighed and snapped his fingers. The key appeared in the air in front of him with a small snap. Kravitz smiled and grabbed it. The Castle’s Key could open any lock in the castle. He opened the chest, there was only one thing inside. A very simple, almost ordinary-looking sword that didn’t have any magic around it. Though anyone could see that it was a bit too reflective and too sharp to be an ordinary sword. Kravitz grabbed the hilt and gave a satisfied sigh. The air around him rippled as the invisible forces of the forest hummed in answer. The sword was connected to the magical network of the forest in a way that no one, not even the King of the Enchanted Forest could completely understand.

Kravitz always felt better having the sword with him, but he couldn't carry it around the castle all the time. Jenkins didn’t like it and it made guests nervous. So he kept it in the armory when he couldn't think of an excuse to use it.

He straightened and swung the sword around a few times just for fun. Then he looked around until he found a suitable scabbard and belt. He pushed the sword into the scabbard and attached the belt to his waist. Waving a hand, he returned to the reception hall.


End file.
